The rail industry, as with all sectors worldwide, has faced disruptions due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. This commentary considers how rail organizations in Australia have engaged within the early stages of the crisis, outlining the challenges faced and how they were addressed. Relying on our observations, and anecdotes obtained from others across the Australian rail industry, we identified a range of impacts including determining service delivery levels (and the associated running of “ghost trains”), implementing hygiene measures and social distancing, managing training and medical assessments, and changes in the behavior of passengers and members of the public (including aggression toward staff and increased instances of trespass). Within rail organizations, we saw changes to communication and control structures, new challenges related to balancing priorities (managing risk of rail accidents vs. virus transmission risk), and negative impacts on job design offset by increased informal support for frontline workers. Importantly, from the crisis, we gained new insights about culture. Finally, we provide recommendations regarding how the Human Factors and Ergonomics discipline can support safe and effective rail operations in the context of both widespread crises such as pandemics as well as the less dramatic, but ever present, shifts in the physical, social, economic, and political environments in which rail organizations operate.

中文翻译：

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幽灵列车：全球 COVID-19 大流行初期的澳大利亚铁路

与全球所有行业一样，铁路行业也因全球 COVID-19 大流行而面临中断。本评论考虑了澳大利亚铁路组织如何在危机的早期阶段参与其中，概述了面临的挑战以及如何应对这些挑战。根据我们的观察以及从澳大利亚铁路行业其他人那里获得的轶事，我们确定了一系列影响，包括确定服务提供水平（以及相关的“幽灵列车”的运行）、实施卫生措施和保持社交距离、管理培训和医疗评估，以及乘客和公众行为的变化（包括对工作人员的攻击性和非法侵入事件的增加）。在铁路组织中，我们看到了通信和控制结构的变化，与平衡优先事项（管理铁路事故风险与病毒传播风险）相关的新挑战，以及对工作设计的负面影响被增加对一线工人的非正式支持所抵消。重要的是，从危机中，我们获得了关于文化的新见解。最后，我们就人为因素和人机工程学学科如何在流行病等广泛危机以及物理、社会、经济、铁路组织运营的政治环境。我们获得了关于文化的新见解。最后，我们就人为因素和人机工程学学科如何在流行病等广泛危机以及物理、社会、经济、铁路组织运营的政治环境。我们获得了关于文化的新见解。最后，我们就人为因素和人机工程学学科如何在流行病等广泛危机以及物理、社会、经济、铁路组织运营的政治环境。